I just got back from the news conference with Mozeliak at Busch, and I’m about to write my story. But I wanted to get one thing out now that I think is definitely relevant — according to Mo, Edmonds actually requested that they look at trade options. He approached them.

I haven’t read through all the comments on the previous thread, but going through my email I suspect I have a pretty good idea of what y’all are saying. Here’s what I’ll say: wait until all the moves are done. I don’t think this can be assessed in a vacuum, because I think it’s only the first domino.

I’m trying to chase it down, but remain puzzled. I know some are reporting it’s done, but I’m also hearing some things contrary to that. Stay tuned. Hard to imagine it’s not GOING to happen at some point soon, but I’m not entirely convinced that all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed as of right now.

Duncan is younger than Scott, but they’re similarly productive and similarly cost-controlled. Costanzo had a breakout year, like Mather, but is more valuable because he’s younger and plays a more valuable position. If Dove were healthy, he’d be a good analog for Sarfate, otherwise I’m not sure what works there. The other two I think are pretty self explanatory.

And there’s no way I’d give up Duncan/Mather/Dove/Thompson/Garcia for two years of a declining Miguel Tejada. No way at all.

Do y’all think the parallel package holds up? And would you have made the deal?

I have some longer thoughts on the Cards’ inactivity thus far, and the fan base’s agitation over them, but I wanted to get this out now:

Five years for Aaron Rowand, when he’ll turn 31 in the first year of the deal, is just nuts. He’s had two seasons in the Major Leagues when he was really an offensive asset — ’04 and ’07, both times playing in hitter-friendly ballparks. In ’02, ’05 and ’06 he was a liability with the bat, and in ’03 he was a league-average hitter.

His glove is somewhere between very good and excellent, depending on the year and who you believe, but we’re not talking about Andruw Jones in his prime here. And by the end of the deal, odds are he won’t be an asset in CF anymore, if he’s even a CF at all at that point. So he’ll HAVE to be a significant plus bat for the contract to make sense at that time — and in his prime, his late 20s, he’s been less than a 50-50 proposition to be a significant plus bat.

This is all doubly true to the extent that the Cardinals were considering him, because they have a cost-controlled player ready very soon in CF. So to add Rowand, they would have had to do one of two things: move Rasmus, which takes away much of his value, or move Rowand and bank on those odds that he’s a plus bat for a corner spot in even MORE years of the deal.

I’m sure I’ve already received 10 teeth-gnashing emails from fans about why the Cardinals are sitting on their hands while everyone else gets better. Well, I don’t think the Giants got better today. Their ’08 team may be a smidge better, but their franchise health is assuredly worse.

Deals like this are why I just don’t share the outrage of many fans that the Cards aren’t dipping into the FA market this winter. Big dollars in the short term rarely hurt you — the Andruw Jones deal is at least intriguing, if not the best of the winter (as Joe Sheehan argued, but I don’t really agree). But big dollars in the long term, for players who have already turned 30? Guh.

MLB announced HGH-related suspensions for Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons today. Rick Ankiel was among those specifically mentioned who will NOT receive suspensions as a result of the recent investigations.

A few hours after releasing So Taguchi, the Cardinals hope they’ve drafted a player who makes a perfect replacement, and then some.

Brian Barton is a speedy, right-handed hitting center fielder with some excellent Minor League numbers. For his career, he’s hit 316/416/473. He’s stolen 80 bases in 108 attempts in just 354 Minor League games. Barton is dealing with a knee injury but the club is confident he’ll be ready for Spring Training.

Personally, I like this pickup a lot. Exactly the kind of guy they should have been targeting today. More on the site later today.

The tone from Mozeliak’s briefing tonight was a little different on Rolen than last night. He gave the impression that things are currently very cool with Milwaukee, and that there are fewer teams seriously in the mix today than yesterday.

"It’s just become a little more clear who’s real serious inthis in terms of like if we’re trying to move our third baseman. But we’re
nowhere close to where we feel we’re getting what we need to get to make a deal
like that happen."

He reiterated, repeatedly, that they are happy not to move him if they don’t get a good deal. Basically he said that right now they don’t see any current offers that are fair value, and if they don’t get fair value, they won’t deal him.

Also sounded very much like they’re not shopping Reyes. Listening to offers, sure, but not shopping him. "I
think when you try to weigh out the value, people are trying to look at how he
pitched last year, and his record, and thinking they can just take advantage of
that situation. And I think internally we look at him a little better than
that."

Plenty more when my story goes up on the site later this evening. Also, I walked outside a door to breathe fresh air for the first time in 40 hours today. It was nice.

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